Performance-Enhancing Drugs

"Performance-enhancing drugs" (PED's) is used as an umbrella term to refer to substances and supplements that boost athletic performance. Types of performance-enhancing drugs include anabolic steroids, androstenedione, human growth hormone, erythropoietin, diuretics, creatine and stimulants—most of which are illegal and carry serious health risks.

Erythropoietin (EPO), used to boost aerobic capacity by increasing the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream (blood-doping), was banned by the International Olympic Commission in 1985 and outlawed in 1986, but has come under fire in recent years throughout the running and cycling worlds.